Q: I have a Dreamwinder in play; my opponent has GW and a Monastery untapped. Can I time my using the Dreamwinder's ability (U, sacrifice an Island: target land becomes an Island until end of turn) in a way that his Monastery will turn into an Island with no abilities?

A: The Monastery will become an island with no abilities whenever you play the Dreamwinder's ability on it. However it will also be a 4/4 creature (without first strike). Of course, if the Dreamwinder ability resolves while the Monastery's ability hasn't been played, it will just be an island and you can't activate it.

-Gis

Q: If I enchant Braids with a Lost In Thought, will I still have to sac a creature or land on my next turn (if they can't remove the three cards from the graveyard)?

A: Yes; Braids has a triggered ability. Lost in Thought only prevents activated abilities (and attacking and blocking, of course).

Q: Can you tell me what happens when multiple Enchant World cards are returned to play from the graveyard via a Replenish?

A: They are all put into the graveyard.

Q: I have a Brushhopper and a Basking Rootwalla in play, and two cards in hand; it is my opponent's turn and he Chainer's Edicts me. Can I declare the 'Hopper as sacrificed, and then ditch my two cards removing it from game until the end of the turn - or if I remove him, does it mean I must declare the Rootwalla as a sacrifice?

A: When you choose which creature you are sacrificing you are already resolving the Edict and too late to react to it, so you can't activate the Brushhopper. When you resolve the Edict you will have to choose one of the creatures in play at that time.

Q: I've a question about Blood Moon and the Dual lands: Is an Underground Sea under Blood Moon three basic land types?

A: No; it is now a Mountain and only a Mountain.

Q: I'd like you to clarify something concerning the use of the card Spirit Flare. Can it be played, tapping my untapped red creature, to have said creature deal its damage to an attacking creature that has protection from white? The question comes down to whether my Spirit Flare actually targets the pro-white attacker in addition to my red creature. I though that the Spirit Flare enabled the creature tapped to target an attacking (or blocking) creature.

A: Spirit Flare has two targets: You can't play this on an attacking or blocking pro-white creature.

Q: If I have out two Mirari's Wakes, how much mana will my lands produce?

A: Your lands will now produce three mana; multiple Wakes are cumulative.

Q: If there are no creatures in play, and I control a Narcissism, Can I still use it to discard cards for madness spells?

A: No; you have to have a legal target when you announce a spell or ability.

Q: If there are no creatures in play, and I control a Narcissism, can I use it to cast a Basking Rootwalla, and then target the Rootwalla with it?

A: You can't activate it, so you can't put the Rootwalla into play. (You can just play the Rootwalla for G, of course.)

Q: My opening hand (after going second) is: Mountain, Rites of Initiation, three Basking Rootwallas, Anger. Can I win on turn 1 (cast Rites for six, casting three Rootwallas, giving them all +6/+0 and haste)?

A: No; you discard the cards when the Rites resolves. After it has resolved, the madness triggers are put on the stack. The Rootwallas come into play after the bonus has been given out, so they won't receive it.

Q: I play Rites of Initiation and my opponent counters it; I don't have to discard the cards to it, right?

A: Yes; you discard on resolution of the Rites.

Q: I play Rites and it resolves; I discard my hand including Firecat Blitz. If I play the Blitz for its flashback, do the cats get the bonus from the Rites?

A: No; they came into play after the Rites resolved, so they won't get the bonus.

Q: If a phantom creature is blocked by a zero-power creature, is damage to the phantom even dealt? Does the phantom lose a counter?

A: There is no damage dealt, so the Phantom won't lose a counter.

Q: If I have a Remembrance and a Phantatog in play, can I discard a Serra Avatar to Phantatog, bring it back with Remembrance, and repeat this process ten million times?

A: No; Remembrance only triggers when a creature goes to the graveyard. The Serra Avatar is not a creature, but a creature card; something is only a creature when it is in play.

Q: If you control both Goblin War Drums and Familiar Ground, are your creatures unblockable?

A: Yes. From the Crystal Keep entry on Familiar Ground:

When combined with Goblin War Drums, it can make all your creatures unblockable. [Duelist Magazine #19, Page 34]

Q: Solitary Confinement is in play and so is Nefarious Lich. If a creature attacks and would usually deal damage to you, I'd like to know if it triggers the Lich - because Lich reads"if damage would be dealt to you." Does would imply that even if damage is prevented by the Confinement, it counts for purposes of triggering the Lich. And if that's true, would this mean that with both in play you wouldn't have to remove cards from your graveyard and thus never take damage as long as you keep Confinement in play?

A: Yes. The Lich doesn't have a triggered ability, but two replacement effects."If damage would be dealt" means that the damage never gets done and you will do something else instead. With the two enchantments in play, damage done to you will invoke both a prevention effect (from the Confinement) and a replacement effect (from the Lich), as you are the affected player you get to choose which effect applies. Then the other will do something if it still does something. In this case, you can prevent the damage with the Confinement and then the Lich has nothing to replace.

Q: I played around the Atlanta area this summer, and many people down there say that cantrips like Barbed Sextants and Arcane Denials have been errataed so now you draw the cards instantly instead of"during the next upkeep." I couldn't find anything about cantrips being errataed on the Oracle. Can you tell me if this rumor is true, or are all the people down in Atlanta just brainwashed?

A: You still draw the card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep. I guess they are just brainwashed; let's hope it's only that.

Q: If my opponent removes his or her graveyard from the game thanks to Grip of Amnesia, do I still get to draw the card?

A: Yes. The Grip resolved successfully.